


A Dose of Daydreaming

by MemoryMonkey



Category: Little Witch Academia
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, F/F, Loneliness, Plot Twists
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:27:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24531514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MemoryMonkey/pseuds/MemoryMonkey
Summary: Diana was always a lonely girl before she attended Luna Nova school. She never had any friends until she met Akko - an adorable girl who turned her whole world upside down and left her breathless every time she smiled.Still, Diana never had any real friends.
Relationships: Diana Cavendish/Atsuko "Akko" Kagari
Comments: 55
Kudos: 94





	A Dose of Daydreaming

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to VathySkotadi for proofreading!

_Atsuko Kagari, or 'Akko' to her friends. She is a 16 year old Japanese girl who has been attending Luna Nova with me for the last five months, despite her lack of proficiency in magic, to follow her dreams and use magic to make people smile. She has long brown hair tied into a ponytail at the back and deep crimson eyes. Her birthday is the 25th of June. She is a bit shorter than me. She is an ardent fan of Shiny Chariot and the only person I can share my secret love for Chariot with. She is very playful and silly and doesn't get the best grades, so my friends won't acknowledge her._

_Despite this, we get along very well. She is my favourite person and I cherish every moment with her._

  
Diana leaned back in her chair, smiling softly. She would always remember when, at the very beginning of her year at Luna Nova, the mysterious girl had appeared out of thin air right in front of her. It was from then on that she knew her year at Luna Nova would be an amazing one - once she refused to be lonely any more.

"Hey, Diana, you coming?" Came an excited whisper from outside her door.

"You didn't expect me to go back on my word, did you?" She responded in hushed tones, a smile tugging at her lips. Midnight was coming on fast but it was a Friday evening so she wouldn't have to worry about being up too early the next day.

Standing up and stretching out her arms, Diana pulled her cloak over herself and glanced in her dorm mates' direction - both of them were sound asleep in their beds on the other side of their room.

"I dunno Diana, you are kind of a giant chicken," came the teasing voice from the corridor.

"Excuse me," Diana monotoned quietly, pushing the door open to see her partner in crime leaning against the opposite wall, failing to contain her grin.

"I'm just kidding, just kidding," Akko chuckled, covering her mouth with her hand. "I'm just surprised you agreed to this."

"Believe me," Diana said, eyeing the wicker-box that Akko was carrying. "I am too. And don't get the wrong idea, I usually wouldn't do this," she claimed, stepping out of her room and closing the door behind her. Akko raised an eyebrow at her. "You just have a way of convincing me," Diana sighed.

Akko let out a giggle, skipping down the corridor in front of Diana.

"What can I say?" She asked, spinning around so Diana could see her face. "I do have a way with words. Also I'm extremely intelligent," she added quickly. Diana couldn't stop herself from breaking out into a grin.

"So how much of that food did you actually buy and how much did you steal from the kitchen?" Diana asked, falling in step Akko and gesturing to the wicker box.

"Eh-" Akko froze, an embarrassed glow coming to her cheeks. "Sshh," she answered, holding her pinkie finger up just in front of Diana's lips.

"I see," Diana nodded, unimpressed.

"Well you agreed to have a midnight feast with me so you're just as guilty!" Akko insisted, beginning to power walk down the corridor. Diana was out of breath by the time the two of them escaped the main school building through a side door, relieved by the gentle wind touching her skin and the moon peeking out from between clouds, illuminating their path.

"Come on Akko, this isn't fair. You were always more athletic than me," she complained.

"Geez, and I'm the one carrying all the food too. We've known each other for almost half a year, you should have got a bit less fat since then," the brunette joked.

"Hey!" Diana shouted, breaking into a run to catch up with Akko, who reacted too quickly and disappeared from Diana's reach just before Diana could grab her. A relaxed, happy laugh broke through the airy atmosphere from the girl in front of Diana as they raced off the pathway, towards a grove they occasionally went to together on the edge of the forest.

"Wait! H-hey, are you okay?" Diana panted as Akko lost her footing and fell to the floor, rolling until she met a tree and stopped suddenly - only to spring up from her back and land on her feet with as wide a grin as ever.

"Akko is indestructible!" She shouted.

Diana fell to her knees, trying to catch her breath as she shook her head.

"Don't scare me like that."

"Sorry, sorry," Akko admitted, sitting down and rubbing the back of her head. "Ouch."

"Goodness," Diana took a moment to catch her breath. "I must admit, this is a lot of fun."

"Right?" Akko grinned, throwing open the wicker box and pulling a picnic out of it. "No matter what you're doing, doing it at night time makes it a hundred times more fun!" She insisted, throwing the mat out in front of her before promptly falling onto it face first and taking up as much space on it as possible with her arms and legs. "Especially if you're not meant to."

"What about-"

"Apart from studying," Akko pouted.

Diana laughed, approaching the mat as Akko rolled onto her back, placing her hands behind her head and staring straight up. She took a seat beside the brunette, picking up the wicker box and placing it beside her, examining Akko's apprehensive expression before carefully opening the box. Upon inspecting its contents, her palm met her face.

"Akko," Diana sighed. "About nine tenths of the food you've brought is potatoes."

"Right, so I didn't steal all of it from the kitchen."

"You..." Diana trailed off. She really had no will to actually say anything cruel to the other girl, electing instead to lie down beside her and adopt a similar position, exhaling slowly and deeply. It was strange to be outside of Luna Nova and for it to be so quiet - she would occasionally be on night patrols but she would usually be in before midnight and even then, she would be walking around with a lantern and a sense of responsibility. As such, relaxing in the dead of the night with the fresh smell of the nearby flora filling her nose and the faint sight of the main school building standing tall in the night sky was alien and strangely exciting for her.

Unsurprisingly, the small supply of cakes disappeared quickly, the potatoes going untouched for the rest of the night as Diana and Akko fell into their easy routine of chatting and chatting about anything and everything that came to mind, no matter how irrelevant, no matter how inappropriate. They felt like they could share anything with one another and they both knew that they could spend all night talking if they wanted to.

"I never appreciated how fresh air just... smells so much fresher at night time," Diana mumbled, hesitantly admitting to herself that she was extremely tired.

With no response from Akko, she stared at the night sky for a moment.

"Yeah, totally," came a voice from beside her. "See? Told you. Night time makes everything better."

"Especially when you're breaking the rules?" Diana quoted the other girl.

"Right."

"So essentially you like breaking the rules for the sake of it."

No response came until at least a minute had passed.

"Yeah, basically."

Diana snorted, breaking into a tired laugh. It felt like the two had stayed up all night around a campfire when in reality they were comfortable in the summer warmth alone and it was barely three in the morning, the night as dark as ever. She knew that at this point, the sooner they went to sleep the better, but was hesitant to voice it. She also knew fully well that if she let herself fall asleep, Akko would fall asleep too and they would be in a lot of trouble later that morning.

"Come on." She mumbled, slowly sitting up and propping herself up with her elbows behind her.

"Huh?"

"We have to sleep."

"Don't wanna," Akko mumbled, turning to face away from Diana, who could tell that she was pouting.

"Neither do I," she admitted, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Good talk," Akko mumbled. "I can think of a solution."

"No," Diana chuckled, carefully rising to her knees before standing up fully. "Come on."

"No~"

"Akko."

"Never!"

"Akko."

"Mmph," Akko grunted, slowly bringing her knees up to her chest before kicking out and landing on her feet.

"Thank you for bringing me out here tonight," Diana smiled softly, kneeling down to fold up the picnic mat and guiltily placing it with all of the uneaten potatoes before handing the basket back to Akko.

"Thanks for coming," she responded, flashing Diana a bright smile and stretching her arms high above her head before she took the basket being offered to her. Given pause to gaze into Akko's eyes, Diana felt something stirring deep inside of her. Some much deeper level of affection that left her wanting to jump forwards and wrap the girl up in her arms-

"Diana, how come you're staring at me?"

"I was just..." Diana cleared her throat, quickly turning away and marching back to the school. "Lost in thought."

"I'm that good-looking, huh?" Akko asked from behind her, her smile evident in her voice.

Diana chuckled, wondering what would happen if she just said yes.

"Don't flatter yourself," she shot back to the brunette.

"Oi! You're one to talk!" Akko complained, close on her tail.

Diana, light-headed, couldn't fight back her laugh, glad to hear Akko laughing along behind her. After making something of an effort to be quieter once they had re-entered the school, the two came to Diana's dormitory a lot faster than they wanted.

Diana hesitated as her hand rested on the doorknob.

"See you later, Akko. Sleep well," she whispered, turning to see the brunette waiting behind her, a bright smile on her face.

"I'll try my best," she nodded. "You too, I mean."

Diana chuckled one more time, pushing open the door and stepping into her room, nodding to her friend before closing it and collapsing into her bed.

  
"Oh? Diana? Are you still in there?"

Diana shook her head, fighting the dull ache of drowsiness as the temptation to pull the covers over herself grew stronger each second.

"Diana?" It was Hannah, her dorm mate. She cleared her throat, doing her best to sit upright as she spoke.

"Yes, I'm here."

"Oh, that's a surprise," Barbara spoke with a hint of amusement. "It's almost ten o'clock, you're usually in the library by now."

"Ten o'clock?" Diana squealed, throwing her covers off her bed and noticing she was already in her uniform.

Oh, right.

"Up late again?" Hannah asked as Diana stood up, made her bed and tried to straighten her uniform, cleaning off the grass stains on her knees.

"Until past three o'clock, I believe," she sighed.

"Three o'clock?" Hannah parroted, giving her a surprised stare as she emerged from her section of the room. "That's very unlike you."

"Well, it wasn't really me," Diana said with a slight smile. "I was awake late at night with Akko again."

As she said that, a heavy darkness suddenly sprung up in the room, the tension immediately so thick she felt like she was being crushed. Her dorm mates turned to face each other with unreadable expressions before turning back to her.

"Diana..." Barbara muttered.

"It's not your choice who I spent my time with," Diana frowned. "I understand if you're not supportive of her but I ask that you try to understand. Give her a chance."

"But, Diana!" Hannah complained, stepping forwards.

"I'm going to the canteen to have breakfast," Diana insisted, stepping past her dorm mates. "Good day."

  
_Akko went to see a Chariot show a long time ago - around the same time I saw one. She was particularly enchanted by the metamorphosis magic, which is what she practises the most. She is not amazing at it but it is her best school of magic and she is becoming increasingly proficient at it. She has too erratic an attention span to study properly but works hard to improve her spellcasting ability. She has an awe-inspiring tenacity and optimism - she is driven by her will to make others happy although she sometimes acts very needy and doesn't respond well to criticism._

_My friends still don't like it when I spend time with her, but hopefully they will come to see how good she is._

  
Diana stepped into the canteen, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. By any sane standard she had slept for a healthy amount of time, yet she was groggy as she always was if she stayed up late and woke up late.

As she expected, it was quite empty with a few students lingering and talking, some using it as a space to sit down and read and, unfortunately, no Akko. She would probably still be asleep at this point.

"'Kay," she mumbled with disappointment, taking a seat and quickly eating her breakfast. Saturday morning. Saturday mornings were normal, she did them every week, yet she was a bit lost on what to do. Probably because her body clock was a little bit out. She just knew she wanted to see Akko.

She shook her head. As her dorm mates commented, she would normally be in the library at this point. She couldn't let herself go just because she'd slept in. So, making up her mind, Diana trudged her way to the library. This morning she would study magical languages. Not that much of the morning was left.

The Luna Nova was a familiar and comfortable place to her - her battle zone. She was there more than anyone else in the school, aside from the faeries tending to it, in order to secure her top grades. She had never had trouble focusing on her work there before, yet her thoughts lingered only back to her trip with Akko the night before.

After forcing her book open and beginning to read, Diana was surprised to find herself bored.

"Your eyebrows go all wrinkly and you look like an old person when you focus like that." Diana's eyes darted to up to see that Akko had sat down opposite her on the table and she hadn't noticed.

"Akko?" Diana whispered.

"Why are you so surprised to see me?" She deadpanned.

"Don't act like you ever go to the library of your own free will."

"Pfft," Akko scoffed, leaning forwards on the table. "I had to come here because I failed the numerology test yesterday."

"Did you?" Diana said blankly. "You could have told me when we went out, I would have been happy to teach it to you."

"Really?" Akko's eyes widened, her hands meeting in front of her chest and smiling with such joy that, for a moment, it seemed like every worry in the world was gone. "Hold on a second!" She frowned. "You can't study during eat and sleep time!"

"I don't know about that. while I was there, I thought it wasn't too bad an atmosphere to study in - albeit I understand you and I damper each other's productivity a little."

"Can you please be quiet, Diana?" Hannah whispered from a nearby table beside Barbara, her shoulders tense from agitation and her grip on her pen intense.

"Y-yes, of course. Sorry," Diana stammered, unaccustomed to being the noisy one in the library. Though she was whispering - she was surprised that Hannah was more annoyed at her than at Akko, but it still served as a good reminder.

"You've gotta separate work and life, Diana," Akko eventually said.

"...And you've got to actually have some work in your life," Diana responded quietly.

"Dianaaa, you're so boring when you get like this~" Akko mumbled, falling face-first onto the table with her arms stretched out either side of her.

"Come on, tell me what parts of it you don't understand and I'll walk you through them," Diana whispered and smiled, putting her magical languages textbook away and rooting through her bag for her basic numerology book.

"But I don't wanna be bad for your own studying," Akko mumbled, sitting up slightly and leaning on her elbows. Her tone threatened the impending use of her puppy dog eyes.

"Don't worry about it, I'm miles ahead," Diana spoke under her breath so that only Akko could hear. "You're more in need of studying than I am, so come on."

"Fine," Akko mumbled, fiddling with her hands with redness about her cheeks, looking everywhere apart from Diana. "Thank you."

"Don't worry about it. Come sit next to me," Diana instructed, pulling out the chair beside her and patting the top of it.

"R-right..." Akko nodded, silently standing and making her way around the table before setting herself down next to Diana, the brightness of her eyes dulling as they met the wall of text that was page one of the book in front of her.

"So, how are you getting along with the first set reading piece, _Numerology: Or What Pythagoras Wrought_?" Diana asked.

"Well..." Akko mumbled, her fists tightening and relaxing. "I read the introduction chapter then-"

"Are you serious?" Diana raised one eyebrow. "You've had months."

"I know, I know, I'm sorry..." Akko sighed. "I just, he uses such... His sentences just go on and on until you don't know what he's trying to convey, and I have to look up every other word he uses!"

"It's alright," Diana tried to soothe her friend as Akko's suffering was her own. "I get that, I used to feel like that as well. But this book is imperative in understanding how Numerology can be applied to the Elliott wave principle, if you haven't read this-" She paused as Akko's face met the table again.

"But the Elliott wave principle is economics or market analysis or something, isn't it? Why do we have to learn about that?"

"It's an example to which we are expected to apply our understanding of numerology-"

"Miss Cavendish."

Diana froze, unfamiliar with Professor Finnelan's scolding tone being used on her.

"Professor?" She asked nervously, turning away from Akko to see the elderly witch stood close to her table with her hands on her hips.

"Miss Cavendish, I have received several noise complaints about you in the library today."

Diana froze, her face flushing from embarrassment.

"W- m-" she stammered, unable to meet the professor's eye. "I-I'm sorry, Professor. I really didn't... I'm just..."

"It's alright, Miss Cavendish. You're not in trouble. I was just as surprised as you appear to be at the moment. That being said, see to it that this does not continue. Do you understand?"

"I-I understand, professor!" Diana answered, standing up and bowing deeply. Bright red from embarrassment, she tried to ignore the looks she was getting from around the library. She was astounded that Finnelan hadn't scolded Akko instead of her - until she turned around to see that Akko was missing.

Diana sat down, fighting back another grin as she shook her head. Akko must have ran away when she saw Finnelan coming. Diana decided not to waste a second, resuming her magical languages studies.

Akko didn't reappear during Diana's time in the library. Sighing to herself in disappointment, Diana resigned to continue studying magical languages for another few hours, until most students had left the library. She studied until her earlier grogginess came back in full and her hand threatened to drop her pen, her eyelids about to fall shut. She froze as her stomach rumbled, looking around the library to make sure that no one had heard.

After another quick trip to the canteen for lunch, during which she found herself avoiding her dorm mates out of what she could only assume was embarrassment, Diana returned to her dorm room. Barbara and Hannah would usually take a trip down to Blytonbury at this time and it would end up being leisure time for Diana.

As such, she ended up placing her bag on the floor and flopping straight back into her bed, shuffling to her side to face her crystal ball before something caught her eye. She had accidentally taken Akko's notebook, which was peeking out of the top of her bag.

Eyeing the crystal ball again, she sat up and decided to send her a message.

**Diana** _Akko, I have accidentally taken your notebook._

_Message sent_

**Diana** _We should meet up so that I can return it to you._

_Message sent_

_Akko has come online_

_Messages received_

_Akko is typing a message..._

**Akko** oops! and this is what i get for doing your stinking numerology!

**Diana** That's what you get for betraying me the moment Finnelan arrived.

**Akko** sorry about that ^^ couldnt help it

**Akko** you know what shes like

**Akko** she pretends to be all prim and proper but when no ones looking she turns into an obese green dragon with seventeen heads and mould

growing on her skin

**Akko** and she hunts the lands in search of defenceless prey to scrutinize

**Akko** then if you annoy her shell take you to her room and try to petrify you and take all your stuff

**Akko** she probably goes to the toilet after showering

**Diana** That's certainly a collection of claims.

**Akko** its all true! she hates all children, especially everyone at luna nova (apart from you) and she plans to destroy the world once she reaches 100 years old (which is in a few months!)

**Diana** Are you aware that the staff can monitor all messages sent from our Luna Nova accounts?

_Akko is typing a message..._

_Akko is typing a message..._

**Akko** of course, hi professor! we were just talking about my fictional character finnelan. mister finnelan. he comes from hong kong and lived thousands of years ago in the medieval times

**Diana** Anyway, when and where would you like to pick up your notebook?

**Akko** this was all just a cunning ploy to distract you! for you see...

_Akko is typing a message..._

**Akko** i am already here!

Sure enough, there came a knock at her door. Diana stared at the door, unsure why her body was already reacting strangely to the idea that Akko was just past the door, a nervous twitch taking over and heat instantly rising to her cheeks.

"Akko, is that you?"

"Yup! I've come to reclaim my stuff that you stole!"

"I didn't steal it," Diana scoffed, excitedly opening the door and stepping out.

"Yeah, sure ya didn't, now hand it over!" She huffed in an attempt at a Brooklyn mafia accent.

"Akko, how are you always such a stream of randomness?" Diana grinned, aware of her door closing behind her. "It's amazing," she admitted, handing Akko the notebook.

"I have to try my hardest to be amazing if I want to compare with you~" she winked.

"W-well... I mean, thank you, b-but-" Diana stammered, Akko's effortless positivity soaking her through before the girl interrupted.

"I'm really sorry but I have something planned right now, so I gotta go," Akko explained.

"Ah, right," Diana said weakly. "I see. Well then," she cleared her throat, turning to her door and placing her hand on the doorknob before turning to Akko - but Akko was already disappearing down the corridor, offering her a wave before ascending the staircase.

  
_I am never sure of anything when Akko is around, apart from the fact that I want her to stay close. When I am with her, time seems to fly by. It's almost as though she knows me as well as I do while she remains a mystery to me. Her smile is the brightest thing in the world and I can't resist but be swept away in her mischief from time to time - she always brings me on adventures with her and each day I feel more and more tempted to wrap her up in my arms and stay with her wherever she goes._

_I think I'm falling in love with Atsuko Kagari._

  
Diana laid her pen carefully down on the table, blushing bright red from the words she had just written.

"What am I saying, what am I saying?" She whispered to herself, shaking her head as she picked up her journal and placed it right at the back of her desk and took a moment to catch her breath. "This is ridiculous, I can't be... I can't fall..." She stammered, though she knew fully well she wasn't going to persuade herself of anything different.

Slowly rising to her feet, Diana thought back to the day before, when she was handing Akko her notebook back. Every tiny little thing she did was magic to Diana, each of her mannerisms something new and exciting, all of her ideas ridiculous and enlivening.

"But what would she think?" Diana sat down on her bed, cradling her head in her arms and sighing hopelessly to herself. "The two of us are going out again tonight and I can't make things weird..." She took a nervous glance at her clock - it was almost 8 pm.

It wasn't going to be anything fancy, or official. In fact, it was probably as far from that as it could possibly be - they hadn't even picked a time to meet up. They had just agreed that, at some point in the evening, Akko would come to Diana's room and they would walk around the school fields together for a while and talk.

How was she so embarrassed? Akko was just a random low-class witch and she was Diana Cavendish, but at the same time, Akko was perfect and she was just her. Despite everything, Akko was always the encouraging one. Diana felt ridiculous, sitting and blushing about nothing as she waited for Akko to knock on the door.

For some time, Diana sat patiently on her bed waiting for the knock, before she grew too restless and decided to begin to read a book, careful not to become too immersed in the literature. Most of the books in her section of the room were fiction - a deliberate decision she had made in order to keep work in the library and relaxation in her dorm. Of course, she and her dorm mates would occasionally hold study sessions around the table in their dorm with tea but that was a completely different atmosphere.

Despite her earlier concerns, Diana had become deeply engaged in her book, all the while listening attentively for a knock. Soon it was ten o'clock, and no knock had come. Soon it was eleven, then midnight, then one in the morning, by which time her dorm mates had long since entered the room and fallen asleep.

After reading through the emotional climax of the story, Diana folded the book closed and placed it carefully back where she had taken it from, yawning to herself.

Only then did her eyes pick up the time showing on the clock and something clicked in her brain.

"What on Earth, Akko?" She mumbled. "What are you doing?"

Diana stood up, taking care to walk as quietly as she could, before carefully opening the door and stepping into the corridor. Immediately she could feel the chill as she stepped out of the insulated warmth of her room, the warm golden glow of her area replaced by cold moonlight. Scanning the corridor quickly, Diana was surprised to find Akko not waiting for her.

She stepped up to the window closest to her door, sitting down in the windowsill before squinting to look at the school grounds visible through her window. Just past her field of view as the main road leading into the entrance to the school, then the long side pathway that spanned most of her view, including the little pathway she'd drawn into her mind into the grove area that she and Akko had visited not long ago. A little further, she could just about make out the edge of the main school grounds, a large expansive field where they did most of their broom training. The early morning darkness that she had previously taken solace in was now cold and mocking as she shivered, stepping back into her door and scanning the corridor one more time, just to be sure, and concluding that Akko wasn't there.

Grumbling in irritation, Diana closed the door and began getting changed, deciding there was no way Akko would wait until this late to pick her up. Resolving to speak to the girl tomorrow, Diana prepared to sleep and climbed into her bed, shutting her eyes again.

The next morning was unpleasant, simply due to her tiredness - she was used to a very full night of sleep, as was needed for her to work as hard as she did, so she found herself struggling to pay attention from time to time. Once the morning lessons had ended she went straight to the canteen to search for Akko, but among its bustling crowds she couldn't find her. Finally, after the end of the afternoon lessons, when Diana was walking, dejected, down an empty corridor, did she bump into Akko.

"What's up?" The brunette asked. "You look kinda down."

"May I ask where you were yesterday evening?" Akko flinched at Diana's tone, instantly realising something had gone wrong.

"What do you mean? I was in my dorm-"

"We were going to walk around the school together," Diana sighed.

"Ohhhh!" Akko's eyes widened. "Crap! I'm so sorry, I totally forgot!"

"I was..." Diana began, about to reprimand the girl for her forgetfulness by explaining how long she waited, before deciding there was no point. The girl meant her apology and she could already tell that Akko was upset. "It's alright. It was hardly a special occasion," she concluded, beginning to walk back to her room.

"I'm really sorry," Akko mumbled, falling in step with Diana. "I'm getting... More and more busy with a group of friends. Please remind me though! You'll always be the most important!"

"A-always... the most important?" Diana echoed the brunette's words, already flustered.

"U-huh!" Akko shot back brightly. "We've both got to remember to put each other first! You are my favourite person, after all~"

"I - am?" Diana parroted, fighting not to let her mouth hang open.

"Mhm! And I'm yours, right?"

Diana continued walking, facing the ground.

"Y-yeah, right. I mean... Yes. I mean yes. Yes, you are."

Akko laughed loudly at her awkwardness before they arrived back at the door to her dorm.

"Studying the material we learned today as usual?" Akko asked in a bored tone.

"I assure you, it's quite helpful." Diana nodded.

"Alright, alright. You have your fun," Akko grumbled. Diana smiled, placing her hand on the doorknob.

"See you later," Diana said after pausing.

She turned around, but Akko was already gone.

"Afternoon, Diana," Barbara casually greeted her as she entered the room. Diana closed the door behind her to see Hannah lying on her front, her crystal ball on her bed in front of her, and Barbara engaged in one of her novels.

"Good afternoon, girls."

"You were quite distant this morning..." Hannah spoke. "Is something the matter?"

"I'm just not sleeping too well," Diana nodded. "Thank you for your concern."

"Mhm," Hannah hummed. As Diana was about to make her way back into her room, Barbara spoke again.

"Who were you talking to before you came into our room?"

"I was just saying goodbye-" Diana paused, well aware that her roommates wouldn't be happy with the answer. "I was saying goodbye to Akko."

As she had expected, Barbara placed her novel down on the table and Hannah pushed her crystal ball to the side, sitting up straight and gripping the edge of her bed in frustration.

"Let me guess, you were up late with Akko?" Hannah shot.

"Well..." Diana paused awkwardly. There was some truth to that. "I... Well I was-"

"Of bloody course," Hannah huffed.

"Diana, you need to stop talking about Akko," Barbara asserted.

"I need to - what?" Diana raised her chin, placing her hands on her hips. "What did you say?"

"I said," Barbara began slowly. "You need to stop talking about Akko," she repeated, emphasising each word. "It's not healthy."

"Healthy? Barbara!" Diana shouted, appalled. "How could you say that?"

"We're worried about you, Diana," Hannah admitted.

"She's harmless!" Diana insisted, bringing her fist down on the table, hard. "Just because we're from different backgrounds doesn't mean there needs to be a divide!" She huffed, tears forming in her eyes.

"Sure, the girl might be harmless but-"

"You just won't allow me this," Diana hissed. "I have feelings for her, you know! She forgot we were supposed to hang out yesterday! She left before I could say goodbye to her today! Does that make you feel better?"

Again, Barbara and Hannah shared a glance, opening their mouths to speak and stopping as if they couldn't figure out what to say. Diana allowed herself a moment of victorious satisfaction but there was nothing satisfying about it as she returned to her section of the room only to sit and stare blankly at the opposite wall.

Akko would always be disappearing at the worst time. Diana supposed it was to save herself from trouble which was understandable, if not a little bit childish. Still, Akko had an impeccable morality, and an iron will to make amends when she had done something wrong. Perhaps Diana could take a page from her book.

"I'm sorry, girls," she eventually spoke into her room, assuming the others were listening. "What I said was childish. I hope you'll forgive me."

There was a pause.

"Of course we forgive you, Diana," Hannah answered.

"We can just tell that something's wrong," Barbara continued, "And we want the best for you."

"Thank you," Diana answered, lying back on her bed. Perhaps something was wrong, but between her and Akko everything was perfect.

Her only problem over the next few weeks was that she began to see less of Akko. As she had said, she was tied up with other friends at the moment, and it became less and less common for Diana to spend her lunch breaks and evenings with the girl. It was as though she sometimes knew that Akko wouldn't be where she expected her to be - never appearing in the library in corridors any more.

The two still chatted occasionally on the witch net, though the brunette's responses began to come in a lot more slowly. Sometimes it would be days until Diana got a response from the girl. The two still met up from time to time, though more often than not Akko forgot. Still, Diana couldn't hold it against her. She loved the girl deeply and was just waiting for the right time to tell her.

When going out with Akko onto the school grounds at midnight had turned into a novelty, and their heartfelt chats became a legend of the past, Diana grit her teeth and said she'd wait until the time when Akko would break through and she would have more free time again. She did say herself that Diana was her favourite person - the two would always prioritise each other when they could, and Diana could never be angry at Akko for not being around anymore, as much as it hurt her.

So why was it that, after several weeks had passed and Diana hadn't seen Akko, she wasn't surprised?

Why was it that after spending a month without Akko, Diana had expected it?

  
_~~Akko~~ _

_~~Atsuko Kagari~~ _

_~~Akko has~~ _

_~~Akko is~~ _

_~~I haven't seen~~ _

_~~I wonder~~ _

_~~Life hasn't been~~ _

_I miss Akko so much._

  
The pen fell out of Diana's hand, leaving a smudge in her journal as she leaned back, letting her head tilt backwards, and stared at the ceiling.

It had been more than 5 weeks since the last time she heard from Akko.

Since then, her grades began to climb higher a little faster - her dorm mates didn't act so strangely around her any more and she never got noise complaints in the library.

Since then, she hadn't gone on a single adventure or broken a single rule - she had never been outside at night time apart from night duty or when she went out alone at midnight to see if Akko was at the grove, only to find it empty. What Akko had neglected to mention those weeks ago when they had been here was that night time made things more exciting when you were with someone else. On her own it was cold and dark, and the pain of her loneliness bit at her. Since then, her heart rate hadn't risen suddenly and she never found herself breathless with adoration - since then, she never found herself smiling like a little girl with a crush on someone.

Since then she hadn't laughed.

Diana leaned forwards, ignoring the hot stinging in her eyes as she put the pen back where it belonged, pausing when she picked up the journal. This journal was its own special one, filled only with her thoughts on Akko. She closed it, gripping it tightly in frustration, finding herself about to throw it forcefully into the bin before she paused. Instead of placing it back into the depths of her desk drawer, she held it close to her chest.

Diana sat down at her bed, turning to her crystal ball again.

_Akko is offline_

**Diana** Akko, where have you gone?

_Message sent_

**Diana** Things haven't been the same without you.

_Message sent_

**Diana** Some people might say things have gone back to normal but I miss our adventures so very much.

_Message sent_

**Diana** And I haven't been able to talk to anyone about Shiny Chariot without you.

_Message sent_

**Diana** You inspired me to start practising metamorphosis magic more. I even tried making my own Chariot show using what I learned from you but it wasn't very fun on my own.

_Message sent_

**Diana** Akko, there were a few things I always wanted to tell you but I never had the courage.

_Message sent_

**Diana** Your smile was brighter than the sun and everything has been darker since it disappeared. Your laugh brought me more joy than anything else in the world.

_Message sent_

**Diana** Nothing ever compared to the time I spent with you

_Message sent_

**Diana** And I never told you that I loved you.

_Message sent_

**Diana** I love you Akko.

_Message sent_

**Diana** Do you love me?

_Message sent_

_Akko is offline_

**Diana** Why aren't you responding, Akko?

_Message sent_

**Diana** Where have you gone?

Diana fell back against her bed, trying to hold back her sobs but with no success. She held her journal tightly to her chest as if she was trying to make it a part of her.

"Diana? Are you okay?"

Diana lifted up the book and opened it, scanning over its contents.

"Hey, Diana?"

Diana sobbed again, letting her eyes pour over it.

Hannah and Barbara appeared at the entrance of her section of the room.

"Diana! What's wrong?" Barbara asked, sitting down beside Diana.

"Please, talk to us," Hannah pleaded, sitting on the other side.

Diana looked at her drawings of Akko in the book. Drawings in several different positions, wearing lots of different outfits and pulling all kind of facial expressions. She was drawn in so many amazing places that Diana wanted to go to, like Paris and Tokyo - she was drawn holding hands with Diana, or ice skating with her, or at a theatre with her, and later on, kissing her. Diana looked over all her deleted notes about Akko - at one point, Akko had been English too. At one point, she had been a few centimetres taller. At one point she had been so good at magic that she rivalled Diana, but she had always had those hauntingly beautiful crimson eyes.

"Akko..." Diana whispered, closing the book and addressing the girls either side of her. "She's gone." Her voice was barely audible, choked by her constricting throat as she tried not to cry.

"I'm sorry, Diana," Hannah placed a soothing hand on her shoulder. "I know it hurts."

"Right. And we're proud of you," Barbara nodded, touching Diana's opposite shoulder. "We're proud of you for letting go. Girls our age don't need imaginary friends."


End file.
